美国国家公共电台 NPR British Police Say 7 People Killed In London Bridge Terrorist Attacks

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to start the program in London where there are reports that a van reportedly drove into pedestrians¹ on London Bridge. Police also say they are responding to incidents at two other locations nearby. NPR's Frank Langfitt is on the line with us to tell us what he knows so far. Frank, thanks so much for speaking with us.

FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE²: Hi, Michel.

MARTIN: So what do we know right now? What are authorities telling us?

LANGFITT: Well, it's an extraordinary night here in London. Earlier in the evening, we understand, as you were just mentioning to listeners, that a van jumped the curb³. There was a BBC reporter who just happened to be on the bridge this evening, and what she said - her name is Holly⁴ Jones. She said - this is her description - he swerved⁵ right around me and then hit about five or six people.

We understand from Holly Jones that four pedestrians appear to be severely⁶ injured on London Bridge and that the van was going about 50 miles an hour, which is very strange. We're talking about central London. It's very congested. People don't drive that fast down there. Jones said that police had taken a man into custody⁷ who happened not to be wearing a shirt. And that's what we know so far from London Bridge.

MARTIN: In a minute, I'm going to ask you to tell us about the area, about central London, for people who aren't familiar with it. But before you do that, can you tell us what you're hearing about Borough⁸ Market?

LANGFITT: Yeah. So Borough Market is not far from London Bridge. I've spent a lot of time there. It's a wonderful area to go for food and for drinks. And police say that there have been stabbing incidents there and that they've sent in armed officers to address that. There is video up on Twitter of police going into a restaurant and yelling at people to stay on the ground. The people are cowering⁹ underneath¹⁰ tables. It's a very - it's a terrifying scene. And that's what we have at Borough Market.

Now, there was a third incident. The police - the London Metropolitan¹¹ Police - they're the most authoritative¹² source for following these sorts of events in the city. They say there's a third incident up at Vauxhall. Now, Vauxhall is also on the south bank of the Thames, about four kilometers away. And it's also the home of a subway, a tube station.

MARTIN: Now, for people who aren't familiar with the area, can you just describe where all of these incidents occurred? What would you like there now on a Saturday evening?

LANGFITT: You know, on a Saturday night, it's a beautiful evening. I actually was riding my bike along the Thames today upstream. But it was a beautiful sunny day, and so people would have been out all over town. You know, London, as you know, a vibrant¹³ city, especially on a Saturday night. There would have been a lot of people on London Bridge. Just to situate our listeners, London Bridge would be upstream from the famous Tower Bridge, downstream from St. Paul's Cathedral.

And then if you go just a little bit south, you would get to Borough Market, which is right by The Shard¹⁴, a great - the great skyscraper¹⁵ of the city. And Borough Market attracts tons of people who come there for lots of food and drink - a very popular place on weekends, especially on a Saturday night. Vauxhall is actually further upstream, and Vauxhall would be not too far from Big Ben. And also for anybody who was a fan of the James Bond movies - there's no indication this has anything to do with it - but it is the home of British intelligence MI6.

MARTIN: And, Frank, we only have a little bit less than a minute left, but this is all coming just a month after three people were killed near Parliament there in London when a car ran over victims. An attacker stabbed a police officer, of course, in Manchester. Two weeks ago, there was this bomb attack at the Ariana Grande concert. There has - that has to be on people's minds there.

LANGFITT: Absolutely, and I think that coming - three incidents like this, you know, there was a long stretch where London did not face big sort of terrorist attacks. The biggest one, actually, was going back more than 10 years ago - London tube bombing. But these last two to three months, we had two confirmed terrorist attacks, 22 people dying up in Manchester at the concert. And now tonight, police are not calling this a terrorist attack, but it's an extraordinary evening. I've certainly never seen anything like it in my time here so far. And police are digging in, trying to find out what's happened, try to find the perpetrators and of course tend to the victims.

MARTIN: Frank, thanks so much. That's NPR's Frank Langfitt reporting from London. Frank, thanks so much for speaking with us.

LANGFITT: You're very welcome, Michel.

1 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

4 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

5 swerved   

v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She swerved sharply to avoid a cyclist. 她猛地急转弯，以躲开一个骑自行车的人。
• The driver has swerved on a sudden to avoid a file of geese. 为了躲避一队鹅，司机突然来个急转弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

7 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

8 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

9 cowering   

v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He turned his baleful glare on the cowering suspect. 他恶毒地盯着那个蜷缩成一团的嫌疑犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He stood over the cowering Herb with fists of fury. 他紧握着两个拳头怒气冲天地站在惊魂未定的赫伯面前。 来自辞典例句

10 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

11 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

12 authoritative   

adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的

参考例句：

• David speaks in an authoritative tone.大卫以命令的口吻说话。
• Her smile was warm but authoritative.她的笑容很和蔼，同时又透着威严。

13 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

14 shard   

n.（陶瓷器、瓦等的）破片，碎片

参考例句：

• Eyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air.目击者称空中石块和玻璃碎片四溅。
• That's the same stuff we found in the shard.那与我们发现的碎片在材质上一样。

15 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。